BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE DAWN CHORUS SINGING BEHAVIOUR: EVIDENCE FOR COMMUNICATION NETWORKS

TL;DRAbstract

There has been a recent paradigm shift in the study of animal communication from examining interactions as dyads to considering interactions as occurring in a communication network.The dawn chorus of songbirds, a striking acoustic phenomenon, provides an ideal opportunity to study network communication because multiple singers are within range of each other, permitting eavesdropping by both males and females.I used a 16-microphone Acoustic Location System (ALS) to simultaneously record and analyse the dawn chorus in a population of black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) breeding in eastern Ontario.Males frequency-match neighbours 24% of the time at dawn, more often than expected by chance or during daytime singing interactions.The amount of matching between males from different over-wintering flocks is significantly greater than between flockmates.Males of the same winter dominance rank match significantly more than do males of disparate ranks.Male black-capped chickadees are i

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